Caracterización de las lesiones personales no fatales en la Regional Noroccidente (Antioquia) 1996-2002 y Medellín, 2003-2006

objective a descriptive study was carried out to ascertain some characteristics regarding nonfatal personal injury in the north-western region of colombia for 1996-2002 and the city of medellin during 2003-2006. methodology access was provided to the north-western region's clinical forensic medicine unit records. analysis focused on calculating specific and raw nonfatal personal injury rates per year, age, gender and type of wound. a multinomial logit regression model was used for explaining the probability of non-fatal personal injury occurring - according to some acceptable variables. results traffic accident injuries occupied first place, mainly affecting men aged 25 to 29, pedestrians and motorcyclists; second place was occupied by injury caused by interpersonal violence where blunt instruments used as weapons dominated, especially in fights, and third place was taken by injury inflicted during domestic violence, women having some type of marital relationship being mostly affected, especially involving the spouse. accidental wounds occupied last place. the economically-active population was the most vulnerable, i.e. that on which responsibility for future economic and social progress will fall. conclusion the analysis suggested the urgency for departmental and municipal entities to monitor the scourge of nonfatal personal wounds to establish strategies for reducing their occurrence.